Google are introducing a mobile phone application that identifies distant planets and galaxies.

This new application runs on Google Software called Star Droid and uses GPS technology, now available on most mobiles, to identify the position of the user and then compares this with existing maps of space. It automatically attaches name tags to the stars and planets that can be seen through the phone’s viewfinder!

Budding astronomers will be able to tell the difference between Saturn, Pluto and Mars by simply pointing their camera-phones at the night sky and clicking a button. However the difficulty may lie in the difference between city and countryside skies - the same patch of sky is radically different when one gets away from the orange glow of street lights and city smog.

The application, which could be launched as early this May, is also likely to identify the object’s distance from Earth and its position within a constellation.

Astronomers hope Google’s technology, which will be free to download from the internet, will help to inspire and educate a new generation of stargazers.

Google has been lauded for its innovation, and its Google Earth application, which mapped the world, even led to conservationists discovering a new forest in Mozambique. A British-led expedition found 7000 hectares of forest, rich in biodiversity, known as Mount Mabu. In just 3 weeks scientists found hundreds of species, birds, butterflies, monkeys and a new species of giant snake!